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Beho Beho Safari Camp - Selous Game ReserveMon, 12 Feb 2018 11:00:46 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/290332a81fd3e02ec3905a2a98177913?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngbehobehohttps://blog.behobeho.com
Beho Beho Bushblog – Roel – 12th Februaryhttps://blog.behobeho.com/2018/02/12/beho-beho-bushblog-roel-12th-february/
https://blog.behobeho.com/2018/02/12/beho-beho-bushblog-roel-12th-february/#respondMon, 12 Feb 2018 11:00:35 +0000http://blog.behobeho.com/?p=2700Continue reading →]]>This story I am writing is from a while back already, the 26th of December 2017 actually. That morning I went out with the Hay family for a drive and we were heading towards the Little Serengeti and maybe even beyond towards Lake Manze depending on what we would find along the way.

We had some nice sightings along the way of Cape Buffalo and general game, but when we got to the start of the Little Serengeti, there where the thick forest starts to give way to the open grassland, we encountered a small herd of Elephants. At first I thought they were a bit nervous as, without me knowing this, we had driven into the middle of the somewhat scattered herd. Normally when this happens the Elephants will either re-group and carry on with their lives or they stay nervous and we move on. After a few minutes the Elephants were still not really calming down but strangely they were not really interested in us and the vehicle, even the Yellow Baboons were more on their toes than normal. So I decided to move on and let them all relax and for us to go see what the plains would bring us.

We did not get far as we barely moved 50 meters and somebody in the back yelled “LIONS!!”, so I stopped and looked to my left and saw an amazing sighting happening. These Lions, they turned out to be the Black Panther Pride, had stumbled across a Masai Giraffe that had just given birth and they were eying the newborn for a meal.

The feelings in the car were a bit mixed but in the end we did watch the sighting unfold until the Lions had taken down their meal. This can be hard to watch as it did take a long time to happen, we were there for over an hour and during that time the mother defended her offspring admirably. But, in the end, she had to leave and rescue herself as she was getting more and more tired. The calf itself never stood a chance as one of its back legs was broken.

A morning never to forget even though it is a though sighting to watch.

]]>https://blog.behobeho.com/2018/02/12/beho-beho-bushblog-roel-12th-february/feed/0behobehoroelblog356Beho Beho Bush Blog – Start of Season 2018/19https://blog.behobeho.com/2018/01/08/beho-beho-bush-blog-start-of-season-2018-19/
https://blog.behobeho.com/2018/01/08/beho-beho-bush-blog-start-of-season-2018-19/#commentsMon, 08 Jan 2018 11:58:12 +0000http://blog.behobeho.com/?p=2686Continue reading →]]>This is now my second season at Beho Beho and what a difference between the two. Last season was mostly influenced by the lack of rain in The Selous with all its accompanying drama and events. This season however is very different.

The rains that eluded us the year before arrived in full force in October already making the reserve look beautiful with the rich green colours of the vegetation and the sparks of colour brought by wildflowers, birds and insects. Very soon afterwards the impala gave birth en mass adding frolicking shades of reddish-brown to the mix. The rains have been very regular and the flush of grasses and abundance of water have attracted many herds of Wildebeest and Zebra to our area.

We have seen a lot of The Gardener this season as he still comes into camp regularly and diligently picks the weeds from our Aloe gardens with his trunk. At times he can be quite a roadblock as he now seems to think that his best place to rest is in between Banda 2 and the Main Area, blocking the path for the guests coming from that side of camp. Unfortunately we have not seen much of Freddy this season except for a handful of sightings around the Managers Bandas, he might have moved on into a territory of his own now he is old and big enough.

Since the beginning of the season we have had a new pride of lions around our area, by now we just refer to them as the Beho Beho Pride. Five adult females make up the core of this group and there are three males attending them. The oldest female in the Pride had two cubs in the beginning of the season but lost one very early on, leaving the one cub to harass the older Lions into playing with her. Over time we observed the males mating with most of the other females in the Pride and this has resulted in 5 new additions to the group. One cub was born about three months ago and we just had confirmation that the Half-Tail Lioness has four cubs of her own (sorry no pictures yet, but we will work on that). From what we have observed it looks like at least the Lioness we call Chongo, also has cubs stashed away somewhere. These little ones should provide us with plenty of entertainment over the next couple of months as they get introduced into the Pride and to each other.

It does seem that the dominance of the Lions in close proximity to our camp has had an influence of the rest of the predators, and rightly so. The three males seem to be very aggressive towards the Spotted Hyenas, and the clans in the area are a whole lot quieter nowadays. The new Lions have killed about 4 or 5 Hyena that we know of, this is not for fun or sport, but to get rid of competition.

One of the best things coming with these rains is the eventual arrival of the Northern Carmine Bee-Eaters. They have arrived in big numbers this season, so have many other species of birds, and entertain us with their aerial acrobatics as they swoosh around the vehicles as we bumble along. This can also be observed when they do it to other larger animals, who, as they move around, flush insects like Grasshoppers that the Bee-Eaters can then swoop down onto and eat. Just before Christmas I observed an irate Southern Ground-Hornbill snapping its bill at the Carmines as they were grabbing the food right from under his nose.

There have been a few changes in camp too. Phil and Tricia decided that after their many years in the Bush of Africa it was time to move back to civilization. They left Tanzania at the beginning of November to start their new lives, although Phil will be arranging safaris for people and will guide some of these him-self. It just shows that once Africa is in your blood it is very difficult to separate yourself from its magic.

So, as you cannot run a camp like Beho Beho by yourself, I have had some help over the busy Christmas period. Elizabeth has come all the way from South Africa to assist with the running of camp and adding a female’s flourish to the place and bringing with her many stories of travels through Africa and the rest of the world. Another old bush enthusiast is Sal, the man-with-the-plan in the kitchen. His experience in running bush-kitchens made quite the difference as meal after meal came out to entice the guests over the holiday period. “I was not that hungry but still finished my plate” is a quote that I heard many times over the last few weeks. On the guiding front we had Mike (Michael) join the team, coming from South Africa. He brings with him many years of guiding in some of the prime places in the Kruger Park area of South Africa.

Our trainee guide, Idrissa, is doing very well and we are confident that soon our guests will be entertained by him as he will start taking out drives by himself. He is interested in a broad number of subjects in the bush and likes to get out with other guides whenever he can to learn more. Both him and Saning’o have expressed the desire to further themselves and become qualified walking guides, so when you visit do not be surprised to see one of these two join for a walk, as experience is the best teacher out there. Godlisten can attest to this as his persistence paid out and he is taking walks out regularly and enjoys it a lot. Being out on foot just gives and extra dimension to guiding.

So now we are in 2018 and in only three months or so camp will close down for the main rainy season. We still have quite a few guests to welcome to Beho Beho and The Selous, and we are looking forward to it. In a place like this you never know what will happen and where but we will try and be there when it does.

It has been quiet for almost a month guests wise, but during our quiet period there were ongoing maintenance-works at camp. We did miss going out on game drives, walks and boating excursions, so when our guests arrived we all were keen to go out and explore.

After a few days with guests in camp it was my turn to go to the lake for boating, but on the way toward the lake there is always a nice casual drive to see what we can find. From the start at camp early in the morning it was full of general game in the open plains, but there was no any sign of any predators in the area. Finally when I just concentrate my thoughts to the lake, was when I saw vultures going down and as I switched of my engine to figure out how to get there, it was an opportunity for me to hear some hyenas giggling with little bit of a fighting sound as well. That was a great sign to me that there should be something interesting happening over there. All of a sudden we saw this pack of wild dogs and hyenas that were trying to take their kill. What the kill was we do not know as we only saw wild dogs with red lips as an indicator that something had been killed, probably it was an impala. It was a nice number of 22 wild dogs, many of them are still youngsters. They are always much more active and playful while the adults sleeping. The guests were pleased to see these rare animals that they were not even expecting.

There was other general game all over the game park, majority are buffaloes, impalas, elephants, troops of baboon, giraffes and warthogs. There are some prides of lions that been roaming quite frequently in our immediately area, but since the day we receive our guests till the day they left we only saw one lioness by the Beho Beho airstrip. This lioness last month came to camp, it seems like she was searching for a nice place to give birth, as she was heavily pregnant. So that morning we saw her on some open ground and a few minutes later she walked into thick grass and some shrubs, and we started hearing what sounded like little cubs. The rest of the pride seem not too far away because every evening we could hear them calling down the Msine river valley.

Bird watching has been so spectacular; many migrant birds like European rollers, carmine bee-eaters and white stork have entered the area. The weather has been cloudy but humid during the day, but oin the last day for all our guests there was a big shower that started very early to almost late morning, afterward the weather was so clear and nice. The scenery is so stunning, all the open fields look green, plenty of life happening. And so now we are looking forward for the Christmas and New Year to come soon.

The evenings have been filled with the sounds of lions roaring and in the last week, rather spectacular thunderstorms have moved over The Rufiji River Valley. Rain has fallen now and the bush has turned green in just a few days. Impala fawns can be seen everywhere and the wild flowers are making a return. It was my first opportunity to go out on a drive with the manager Roel and the other guides and see the property upon which Beho Beho prides itself and its visitors. Giraffe can be spotted on almost every outing and the landscape, with its tall palm tree thickets provide for some exceptional sightings. Wildebeest, Zebra, Buffalo, Eland, Wathog and of course Elephant were also on my first few drives. A couple days ago Saningo and Godlisten reported seeing three bush pigs walking past the camp water hole. There are no guests in camp at the moment and I have been using this opportunity to get to know the staff and fellow guides and have been orientating myself with the procedure to expect when they arrive.

Yesterday afternoon I was out learning roads with the Roel, when we came across the Beho Beho pride of lions. We were lucky enough to witness courtship behaviour between the Yellow-maned male and one of the lionesses clearly in estrous. It’s a typical love-hate relationship when lions mate and the growls and snarls could be heard for some distance away. The general game in the area didn’t seem too bothered by the lions and some watched eagerly from the edges of the clearing where the mating pair were. A while later we were able to enjoy a view of a small breeding herd of elephants that happened to stroll past without even taking note of the big cats.

Leopard vocalization can also be heard at times, particularly in the evening and I am waiting in anticipation to see my first one here in The Selous. The first thing that struck me about the reserve is the diversity of habitat types that one finds and also how fast the habitat changes into the next. There are Miombo woodland areas adjoining vast open plains and there are palm tree thickets as well as riverine forest areas. We also find dense rainforest on the slopes of the surrounding mountains and giant Baobab trees are scattered throughout the reserve.

Mention of the birdlife at Beho Beho must also be made as it is some of the best in Africa. Bee-eaters, kingfishers, rollers and cuckoos to name a few are some of the most colourful birds one might encounter and they are abundant this time of the year. Eagles, accipitors, storks, waterbirds, communal birds and vultures can also be seen on a daily basis. The area around Beho Beho is alive with animal life at the moment and it is an exciting time of the year for guide and guest alike. I look forward to the coming weeks as it can only get better. My only hope is that the Beho Beho pride will continue to grow in number and that they continue to take up territory here.

It is a humbling experience to guide at Beho Beho and one becomes immersed in its marvelous diversity of fauna and flora. Having been here only a short time I already rate it very highly. What a wonderful place it is and if you have not yet seen it, I thoroughly encourage you to do so.

]]>https://blog.behobeho.com/2017/12/05/beho-beho-bushblog-mike-5th-december/feed/2behobehoBeho Beho Bushblog – Saningo – 10th Novemberhttps://blog.behobeho.com/2017/11/10/beho-beho-bushblog-saningo-10th-november/
https://blog.behobeho.com/2017/11/10/beho-beho-bushblog-saningo-10th-november/#respondFri, 10 Nov 2017 11:55:12 +0000http://blog.behobeho.com/?p=2653Continue reading →]]>The short rains that started recently have turned the scenery green. It has also made the antelopes more active and they are enjoying this weather. A few days ago when I was out on an afternoon drive, I drove towards the battlefields where I saw a nice herd of impalas that were actively leaping all over the place. On the other side there was an elephant matriarchal herd, it seemed like there were two herds that encountered one another there and formed a bigger herd.

Predator sightings have been quite good, we often see the Beho Beho pride that lives around camp. In this pride there is at least one lioness that looks like she is pregnant, she has been walking in camp and sometimes sleeps on the flat stone pathways, it is this behaviour which made us think that maybe she is searching for the place to give birth. This lioness is more distinctive from other the lioness because of her short tail and new wound on her shoulder.

African wild dogs have been so elusive for almost two months, as they have been denning we have not seen them moving around. About a week ago, there was a nice pack of wild dog we saw on the plains in front of camp as we were having breakfast. We drove towards them and we found them with many puppies, as there were no other guests in camp, we took Mama B (Sarah Bailey), Mr. Simba and all the management and guides. At some point we saw these wild dogs start greeting one another and making a little whistling and eventually start hunting, it was so nice to see them chasing waterbuck. It was such a special evening.

]]>https://blog.behobeho.com/2017/11/10/beho-beho-bushblog-saningo-10th-november/feed/0behobehosaningoblog10111101121011310114Beho Beho Bushblog – Saningo – 19th Octoberhttps://blog.behobeho.com/2017/10/19/beho-beho-bushblog-saningo-19th-october/
https://blog.behobeho.com/2017/10/19/beho-beho-bushblog-saningo-19th-october/#commentsThu, 19 Oct 2017 14:36:52 +0000http://blog.behobeho.com/?p=2644Continue reading →]]> As we have reached the height of the dry season, there have been some great sightings of game congregations close to the water sources. Some of the permanent water sources we have in the Selous Game Reserve include natural springs, lakes and the great Rufiji River. Lake Manze is among the lakes in the Selous that tends to attract a great number of different game species, which includes herbivores, predators and giant reptiles like Crocodiles. The drying out of this lake and the other water sources is the main reason for all these different species to gravitate to the much needed water and interactions between different species abounds. Lake Manze as it keeps drying out much more rapidly than other lakes means that in order to get to the water, the animals need to negotiate large sections of cloying mud flats and some times they get stuck! A few days ago my drive started as a relatively quiet morning, but by the time we were approaching the lake we started seeing plenty of herds of wildebeest heading down toward the lake to drink. Reaching the lake and we had a very good sighting of a dead wildebeest that was stuck in the mud, crocodile were the first to scavenge from the carcass, it was so nice to watch crocodile scavenging on land and not in the water as we would normally see. A few minutes later came some vultures and hyenas to share the dead wildebeest, it was a very active morning but the action did not stop there. It seems like the lions must have been hiding in the bushes and after seeing the vultures landing in the swamp they came to inspect what was going on and that is when they found vultures and a few hyenas feeding on the wildebeest. So the lions eventually took over the carcass in the end but everyone got a little share before them.

Another great sighting that I had in the last few weeks when I went out on an afternoon game drive towards Selous Grave and I found a small herd of elephant were crushing and munching on the palm bushes, little did we or the elephant know but under one of the bushes there was an African civet hiding away, but now pretty much surrounded by elephant and losing his palm bush cover fast. He eventually escaped his precarious position but not without a bit of a chase from the elephants.

One of my “lifers” sighting was at our hippo pool when I saw a crocodile crawling on the back of a live hippo. The hippo seemed not too bothered at all. I have never seen this happening and it was a great excitement to me and to the guests.

This season has felt more magical than seasons past. And we’ve made some memories over the years that are difficult to beat.

In most seasons, I’ve just managed a glimpse – one glimpse all season – of a Sunset Moth as it flitted out of view; in this season I’ve watched them on many consecutive afternoons frolicking around flowering Cassia trees. And even now that their heyday has passed I still find one occasionally floating away through the trees.

In past seasons I’ve rarely seen Impala Lilies – also called Desert Roses – in bloom; this year they seem to be blooming all around. Even the ones in our garden have come into bloom this year.

And the sightings from camp! This office arguably has the best view, at least from any office I’ve ever worked in – with frequent visits from elephant and bushbuck over the years; I’ve even watched Wild Dogs sprint through camp on several occasions.

But 2017 is the season of the lion. At least so far.

As you will have read in previous blogs, the Beho Beho pride has kept a strong hold of its territory, and has spent most of the last few months in the valley, and many of those nights in camp itself.

These days, it’s not unusual for a morning meeting to end with a warning to staff that the lions are in camp and to use extreme caution during the work day, as we ferry the chaps up and down to the staff village in a vehicle.

But the lions’ presence does not outweigh the parched throats of the buffalo, wildebeest, waterbuck and impala, seeking water from the water hole or at the pools in the Msine below.

During breakfast this morning I listened with our guest, to a herd of buffalo stampeding in the river bed below. Their hooves clanging off the rocks. It’s one of those sounds I always pause for. Phil rushed out of the office – maybe the lions have attacked.

But a few minutes later we saw the buffalo rising onto the ridge in their Roman army formation. They stood tightly together, and as we casually continued chatting, then spread out along the ridge again.

Suddenly the buffaloes began alarm calling, and dust was in the air. I caught a flash of a lion attacking the back of a younger buffalo. Phil saw the male lion swing his head around the neck for what should have been the killing bite on its throat, but at the same moment the herd regrouped and charged the lions, sparing its brethen’s all but imminent fate.

Taking a closer look we watched as the buffalo accounted for their herd and began to move away beyond Christopher’s Baobab. Half-tail, a lioness from the Beho Beho pride sulked in and out of the long grasses smelling the meal that got away, with a fresh wound on her right shoulder.

The buffalo may have won this battle, but the water will tempt them near the lions’ den again.

We are always writing about our sightings of the big impressive carnivores of the African savannah – but we should not forget the little guys!

Just as interesting and sometimes rarer to see, they can be really fun to watch if you are lucky enough to spend some time watching them.

A few that we see in Selous are:

Dwarf Mongoose: These little predators look cute and cuddly but they sport little dagger-like teeth great for dealing with tough little invertebrates like beetles, spiders, crickets and scorpions.

If they don’t run away, watching a foraging business (the plural for a group of mongoose) can be real fun with many finding food and others standing sentry duty.

A very interesting and amusing relationship has also been recorded of a certain species of hornbill foraging with dwarf mongoose and picking up any insects that are scared up from the grasses as the business make its way through the bush. These hornbills have also been recorded giving the mongoose a wake up call in the morning and chivvying them on should they be slow to get up.

Banded Mongoose: Another but larger social mongoose species these are a fairly regular sighting for us in the Selous. Again great fun to watch and can sometimes be seen throwing hard shelled food items like millipedes and snails and dashing them off of rocks. They can also be very brave when confronted by a potential predator, banding together to mob animals as big as Jackals and large eagles like Martial eagles.

The have even been known to form rescue missions to save a captured member of their business.

Genet: If we see this nocturnal feline-like creature it is generally a pair of eyes shining back at us from its resting place in a tree or close to camp sliding between the shadows on the hunt at night. They are stunningly marked, highly agile and active little ambush and chasing hunters of small mammals rodents and invertibrates, not long ago we witnessed a failed attempt to catch a scrub hare on our airstrip. Unfortunately getting a photo can be difficult being that it’s nocturnal and it is very seldom that you would see them in the day time.

Civet: A genets larger and ground dwelling cousin, the Civet is equally beautifully marked, also nocturnal, but much more of a generalist in its hunting behavior, it covers large areas at night as it simply snuffles along in a stealthy walk taking opportunities as they present themselves and are generally not picky in what they eat. Fruits and berries supplement a diet of invertebrates, their strong constitution enables them to deal with the noxious Giant Africa millipedes whom everyone else leaves alone. We have also witnessed civets feeding from large carcasses however not if larger carnivores are around. We see them in camp at night and fairly regularly on game drives, but even if we don’t see them their sign is always visible every morning, their tracks can be seen walking the roads and their territorial middens, called civetrys, are widespread and prominent.

A great morning and a great time for our guests with Lion and Hyena, but not that good for Wildebeest and poor Cape Buffalo, and that is because they lost there lives after being killed by Lions and Hyena.

All this actions happened in the morning, five minutes from the camp at the Beho Beho International Airstrip. First, Lions killed a Wildebeest. We were on the way heading to Little Serengeti, we stopped at the airstrip, watched Hyenas moving around and once they ran away for a few minutes we heard Lion growling a few meters from where we were sat. We decide to move in because it was behind the bush and we found a big pride of Lions, nine in total, three big male lions, five lionesses and one cub. Two of the big males having eaten enough already, meant it was time for the one younger male lion to have his share. Most of the kills are made by the females but males always start to eat and then the females follow, and this is to make sure that the males stay healthy and strong enough to defend the cubs who when below one years old could be at danger from any rival males who may try to take over the female pride.

After three days another lovely sight was Hyena and Cape buffalo, this happened a few meters from where the Lion kill was previously, it was really interesting and was a good breakfast for the Hyena but as usual the vultures were there waiting for their time to clear everything up.

As I am about to go on leave for a couple of days, I was thinking back on what an amazing work cycle it has been. We have had great guests coming to camp who all came to seek the relative peace and quiet of Beho Beho and The Selous, and they were not disappointed. Our little corner of what is still a vast wilderness is far removed from the other camps and seeing anybody else on a drive is still an exception, making sure that the majority of our sightings are experienced in quiet and solitude. And what sightings they have been.

The Beho Beho Pride, they have now been in our area for the whole season so we can give them a name now, is still very active in our area. The three males, Mr. Black, Mr. Blonde and Mr. Orange (I just watched Reservoir Dogs) seem to have a strong grasp on the area and can be heard most nights from camp claiming their territory. As for the females, they seem to be a tight nit group that is mostly seen together. The fact that Chongo (the one with the bad eye) is looking healthy and strong testified that her cooperation with the pride as a whole is going well. If she were left alone the lack of stereoscopic vision might hinder her hunting abilities severely and her condition could deteriorate.

As the bush has been drying up quickly we have started to venture more often towards Lake Manze, as the water there attracts good numbers of general game. We were glad to find the Manze Pride still together, the two females and what are now two sub adults. It is great to see they are doing well and how much the two youngsters have grown, the young male is far bigger than his sis now and will be his moms size soon. The young female is quite a feisty character, as I witnessed her stealing an Impala kill off two Spotted Hyena single-handedly and then defending it with vigor when the Hyena wanted it back.

At Lake Tagalala the water levels are still very high due to the amount of rain we had during the long rains, this means there are still plenty of Hippo and Nile Crocs to keep us busy. Also the Heronries are still quite active, providing us with beautiful sightings and entertainment. If we are lucky we find the Black Panther Pride on the lake shore, still complete they make quite a sight with three adult females, a sub-adult female and eight cubs. Keeping all those stomachs full must be quite the headache for the adults.

The Wild Dogs have been more elusive the last two weeks or so. We believed they had a den-site somewhere along the base of Kipalala Hill, which is the mountain that we look out on from camp. But they might have decided to move away due to the lion activity in the area. On their forays to go hunting the Wild Dogs would have smelled and seen both the Beho Beho Pride and the Black Panther Pride often, as the lions pose a risk to the adults and certainly the pups they would have moved to a safer area. But the pups should be approaching three months of age soon and then the pack will abandon the den for the year and start roaming around again.

Leopards are as elusive as ever in The Selous, but a young female has been quite a few times now in the area around the airstrip. She is still quite shy when encountered during daylight hours, but when the sun has set she gains confidence and behaves like she owns the place. The saying goes “a Leopard never loses its spots” and that is true. Over the years I have often encountered a Leopard that would disappear in thin air, and it happened again recently. On my way to Lake Manze we found a Leopard and it had just missed some Impala during a hunt. We saw the cat briefly as it walked into a small drainage line. I gave it a few seconds, as I did not want to scare it, and then moved my vehicle slowly forward so that we could see into the drainage-line. Gone, nothing to see, not even signs in the sand of a running animal. We checked around and peered into the thickets until our eyes fell out but we never saw or heard anything of that cat that day.

As I mentioned before the bush is drying up rapidly now and thus the spring in the Msine River and the waterhole at camp are becoming a big draw for animals in need of water. One of the big upsides of the heavy and late rains we had is that we still have good numbers of Zebra and Gnu in the area and they are now being joined by large herds of Cape Buffalo. During most days the animals can be seen from camp gathering on the plains in front before they gather the courage to go down into the valley to drink. The white Buffalo cow is still around and trying to spot her amongst the hundreds of dark shapes can be challenging, but it is nice to see she is still doing well. It is also worth noting that the elephants still know about the fresh water to be had in and around camp, breeding herds can be seen on drives and from the camp almost every day. The bulls however are bolder and come into camp to feed and drink, allowing some of the guests with close-up encounters from their bandas.

So as we now move into September the winds are picking up a bit and eventually they should bring with them the rains. We all hope that the Short Rains will not elude us again as they did last season when the rains failed and the wildlife suffered because of it. By the time I will go on leave next we should, hopefully, have had some rains and the bush will vibrant with lush greens and abundant water. But we will have to wait and see, Africa is unpredictable.